The death of 75-year-old in a fire at her 7 Central Avenue home Friday night was the first structure fire death in Rockland County in 2012, and it was the first death in a structure fire in the county since 2009.
For emergency services workers and volunteers who rushed to the intense fire at about 10:30 p.m., the death left them visibly shaken — and disappointed that they were not able to rescue her from the two-story home a block off Little Tor Road.
Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services Director Gordon Wren Jr. said Rockland's record of safety is a testament to the work of first responders in the county, including the members of the 26 all-volunteer fire departments that protect Rockland.
At the scene of Friday's fire, Wren recalled that in the 1970s Rockland County was plagued by deaths in structure fires that hit double digits, such as 18 killed in 1972 and 13 killed in 1978. Although Rockland's population is much larger today, Wren said many factors have gone into saving lives, including ...
- Extensive training and cooperation among the volunteer fire departments.
- Improvements in firefighting equipment.
- Fire safety campaigns run locally and countywide.
- And, a major push that began in 1987 to have homeowners and apartment owners install smoke detectors.
Wren said that many Rockland residents have escaped death because smoke detectors alerted them to a fire and they could evacuate their homes or apartments. Investigators on Friday were trying to determine whether the 7 Central Ave. house in New City had working smoke detectors.
Here is an overview of fatal fires in Rockland County dating back to 1981:
ROCKLAND FATAL FIRES
DATE
TIME
ADDRESS
NAME
AGE
Aug. 24, 1981
9: 10 a.m.
34B Route 303 Valley Cottage
Kathryn Stalter
72 (electrical)
June 29, 1982
11:15 a.m.
20 Spruce St. Orangeburg
Jean Slafta
64
Dec. 13, 1983
4:15 a.m.
492 N. Greenbush Rd. Blauvelt
Aurion Prictor
72 (undetermined)
Sept. 11,1984
4:50 a.m.
329 Westside Ave., Haverstraw
Edward Bailey
25
March 27, 1985
2:15 p.m.
Thiells-Mt. Ivy Road Thiells
Rita T. lessi
56
July 13, 1986
6:23 a.m.
Thorpe Village Sparkill
Alexander Nizik
78 (smoking)
Sept. 29, 1986
morning
78 S. Broadway Nyack
Nai W. Chin
57 (smoking)
Feb. 23, 1987
9:36 p.m.
4 Hillside Dr. New City
Lillian Van Houten
58 (smoking)
Feb. 9, 1988
75 W. Church St. Spring Valley
Sara St. Vil, Sandra St. Vil, Maurine St. Vil
8, 13, 72
Nov. 10, 1988
4:55 a.m.
91 S. Airmont Road, Tallman
James F. Balvo, William Kobbe
31 (kitchen)
Jan. 17, 1989
109 College Ave. Nanuet
Felix Zallonis
77 (electrical)
Feb. 19, 1989
12:46 a.m.
Tallman Towers S. Broadway Nyack
Helen Perretta, Janice Russell
78, 65
April 14, 1990
Normandy Village Nanuet
Arthur Hardman
77 (smoking)
June 16, 1990
146 N. Western Highway Blauvelt
Robert Shepard
20
July 9, 1990
7:26 a.m.
185OldTappan Rd. Tappan
Mary Mochnaki
7 (accidental, matches)
Feb. 12, 1991
9:30 a.m.
103 Blauvelt Ave. West Haverstraw
Jonathan Meighen
18 months
Sept. 23, 1993 fire
(Died Sept. 28, 1993)
Night after midnight
In a tent in Congers
Lainda Harty (homeless)
45 (gas grill explosion)
Feb. 8, 1994 fire died Feb. 22
Late morning
Suffern
Kevin Beauchard
9 months (candle)
March 1, 1994
11:30 a.m.
8 Wood St. Spring Valley
Ermicle Faroul Chris Mirville
62 and 3 years old
April 19, 1995
12:31 p.m.
3 Prospect St. Spring Valley
Tanya Price
24 (arson)
Dec. 27,1995
12:53 p.m.
16ForestGlenRd., VC
Allysia Hoehmann
15 mos. (electrical)
Mar. 29, 1996
11:45 a.m.
Mobil Gas Stat. 9W, Nyack
Paula Miller
54 (gasoline accident)
Sept. 16, 1996
2:57 a.m.
7 First St., Congers
Fionnuala Roche & James Monagahan
27, 26 (smoking)
Oct. 26, 1996
4:49 a.m.
600 Route 303 Blauvelt
Al Defumere Jr. & Matthew Defumere
49, 6 (electrical)
Dec. 5, 1996
4:28 a.m.
278 Piermont Ave., Piermont
Quiley Bullock
79 (electrical)
Dec. 27, 1998, died Dec. 29
8:53 a.m.
6 Lane St., Monsey
Shifra Shain
5 (candles)
Mar. 9, 1999
12:40 a.m.
34A Closter Rd., Palisades
James Wadleigh
63 (smoking)
June 22, 1999
11:44 a.m.
18 White St., Spring Valley
Joseph Augustin
81 (electrical)
Dec. 12, 2001
9:56 p.m.
3 Manor Drive Monsey
Marvin Goldrich
62 (gas leak)
Aug. 15, 2002
12:07 p.m.
213OrangeTpke, Sloatsburg
Mary Rozum Byrnes
89 (candles)
Fire June 9, 2003 (Death June 30, 2003)
8:25 p.m.
Monsey Park Home for Adults, 15 Monsey Blvd.
Joseph Marekja
75 (smoking)
March 6, 2004
1 :49 a.m.
2 Hoffman St. Spring Valley
Unidentified vagrant
Smoking and drinking
March 7, 2004
9:25 a.m.
169 S.Reld Drive Pearl River
Theresa K. Oettlein
82 (under investigation)
April 14, 2004
1:38 p.m.
32 Broad St.
Havers traw
Marie Lastennet
89 (under investigation, probably accidental)
July 31, 2004
9 p.m.
Route 303 & PIP overpass
Orangeburg
James Ables
Paul Houston
23
19 (car accident/fire)
Oct. 31, 2004
1:30 a.m.
Blueberry Hill Apts.
Kearsing Parkway
Spring Valley
Edna Thomas
42 (suspicious, but undetermined)
Feb. 27, 2005
12:30 a.m.
12 Lincoln St.
Spring Valley
vacant house
Juan Mata, 40, and Manuel Esteban-Mendez, 44
second-degree arson and second-degree manslaughter
Dec. 14, 2005
Died Dec. 30 at WMC
12:11 p.m.
77 Buchanan St.
Pearl River
Jeanette Younger
87 (small electrical appliance)
Jan. 27, 2006
3 a.m.
Route 59 and Western Highway, West Nyack
Alfonse Sedotto
23 (car accident/fire)
March 3, 2006, died March 4 at WMC
7:45 p.m.
129 Fred Hecht Drive
Spring Valley
Billy James Walker
55 (using stove for heat/clothing caught fire)
April 25, 2006
Died April 30 at WMC
1:50 a.m.
83 Arlene Court
Pearl River
Thomas P. Houlihan
50 (undetermined)
Dec. 10, 2006
Died Dec. 11 at WMC
9:55 p.m.
Evergreen Senior Living, Lafayette Ave., Spring Valley
Bassie McSherry
72 (smoking set her night clothes and bedding on fire)
Jan. 15, 2007
11:08 a.m.
86 Lois Drive, Pearl River
Daniel Feck
64 (probably smoking)
Jan. 29, 2007
Died Feb. 9, 2009
11:15 p.m.
17 Skyline Terr. (Loeb House)
Wesley Hills
Richard Masone
54 (smoking)
April 8, 2007
Victim found in woods 3 days after crash
125 Sister Servant Lane, Sloatsburg
Francis McCloskey
79, fire caused by car accident
Sept. 29, 2007
3:45 p.m.
122 Parkway Trailer Park, Pomona
Jackson Holland
74 (fell asleep in chair outside, smoking)
April 26, 2009
6:40 p.m.
9 Fletcher Road, Spring Valley
Henry K. Lewandowski,
67 (smoking)
April 20, 2012
10:30 p.m.
7 Central Ave., New City
Eleanor Luciano
75 (under investigation)
Compiled by Deputy Fire Coordinator John Kryger, Rockland County Office of Fire & Emergency Services
